Wild Child
by Lyra Silvertongue
Summary: This fic introduces a new character: wild, tomboyish Arianne O'Riley, daughter of a famous, powerful witch who was murdered by Voldemort.
1. The Dream

Arianne sat in the detention hall, tapping her fingers on the table, waiting for Snape to come in and start yelling at her. She leaned back in her chair, grinning at Fred and George Weasley, who also were stuck in detention. Fred grinned back at her and flung a folded piece of parchment at her. Arianne caught it and opened it. It said:   
Yo Ari,  
You turned Snape's hair blue??? A true stroke of genius, but make it pink next time, okay?  
  
Arianne laughed and winked at Fred, who was also laughing behind his hand. Suddenly, however, he sat up straight and put on a sober face. Arianne looked behind her, and, sure enough, Snape walked in the door. It took every ounce of self-control that Arianne had to keep from making a face at him, for she truly hated the greasy haired, hook-nosed tyrant of a professor. Snape looked at her and barked, "Out here, O'Riley!" Arianne rolled her eyes and stood up. Straightening the baseball cap perched on her golden head, Arianne followed Snape outside, waving to Fred and George as she did.  
Snape was evidently quite furious. Arianne noticed that he had managed to turn his hair back to its normal color. Personally, she thought that the blue had been an improvement, but apparently Snape did not agree with her. "O'Riley, do you realize how badly you have harmed your house by your childish prank?" Snape asked, his voice low and menacing.  
Arianne shuffled her feet. "Unh," she muttered, trying to keep from scowling.   
Snape looked at her with piercing eyes. "For your information, you have lost fifty points from your house, and I wish I could have done more, but Professor Dumbledore made an appeal on your behalf. Why he did that I'm sure I don't know, for you are by far the most repellent little brat that I have ever had the misfortune of teaching!" Despite his hard words, Arianne noticed that Snape was staring at her hand with something like fear in his eyes. Arianne pretended to cough to keep from laughing. He was afraid of her! Not that she was surprised...a lot of people seemed to be. Arianne was what was called a "hand witch," meaning that her powers were in her hands, and she did not require a wand to do spells. In fact, she didn't even need to learn the words used in incantations. All she needed was to concentrate on something, and she could make it happen. Arianne knew that her strange power frightened Snape, and she was determined to find a way to take advantage of that.  
After being yelled at for a while longer, Arianne was assigned to scrubbing the halls of Hogwarts with a Muggle toothbrush. It took her twelve hours to complete her task, by which time Arianne was absolutely exhausted. She didn't even have the energy to go to Quidditch practice (she had recently taken Katie Bell's place as Chaser), so she explained to Wood that she had badly twisted her arm. Wood looked doubtfully at her, for it was common knowledge that injuries rarely bothered Arianne, which was one of the reasons why she was put on the team in the first place. Luckily, she managed to get out of practice. She spent the day in her dorm, sleeping.   
That night, Arianne woke up from her nightmare, sweat and tears streaming down her face. She'd been having that nightmare so often lately...her mother's death was playing through her mind again.....  
  
"Colin, take the children and go into this chamber...I've sealed it with magic."  
"Bridget...I can't let you go into this alone..."  
"He's after me, not you, Colin. And if I die..you must take care of the children. I need you to do this for me."  
  
"All right, Bridget...c'mon children,"  
"Mama!! Mama, mama!!"  
"Stop your screaming, Arianne, stop it!"  
Entering a dark, chamber.....clinging to her father, crying.....a loud bang....  
  
"So we meet at last, Bridget MacClaren." A cold voice...high and dripping with evil...  
"Yes, I knew in time we would have to face each other." Her mother's voice was so strong and brave....so determined....  
Flashes of colored light filled the room, the high voice screaming with frustration, her mother gasping for air....a shriek from her mother...silence...  
A laugh filled the room, a cold, cruel laugh....a flash of green light..more silence....  
  
Tears streamed down Arianne's face. Why did her mother have to die? Why did she have to fight Voldemort? Didn't she know that Father would always be missing part of himself without her? Couldn't she have known that her sons and daughter would forever be plagued by fear and guilt?   
Arianne climbed out of her bed and walked to the Common Room. She waved her hand, and a pot of tea appeared on the fire. She buried her face in her hands and started to cry, until she was interrupted by a voice.   
"Arianne?" She looked behind her, and saw Harry Potter standing there, looking at her with concern on his face. "Ari, are you all right?"  
Arianne nodded. "Yeah..bad dream, that's all."  
Harry sat down on a chair next to her. "Me too.."  
Ari smiled. "Care to join me?"  
Harry nodded. "Sure..."  
As she took the pot of tea off of the fire, Arianne noticed the look on Harry's face. She knew it all too well...it was the same expression that she herself frequently wore after her nightmares. She poured Harry a cup of tea, and sat down. Quietly, she said, "It was about your parents, right?"  
Harry looked at Arianne, surprise on his face. "How--how did you know?"  
She sighed. "The look on your face...I have that look sometimes, when I think of me mother.."  
Harry and Arianne spent the night talking about their nightmares, their memories. They both felt a certain connection, for both of them understood what it was like to lose a loved one to Voldemort. Harry felt like he found the sister he'd never had, someone who really understood. Arianne had an almost maternal feeling towards Harry, for he was a younger kid who experienced what she went through herself.   
Those midnight chats became a regular occurence for Arianne and Harry. Although she loved Fred and George dearly, Arianne had never wanted to talk to them about her mother. Harry, however, had been through the same thing, and she was glad to finally have a friend who understood her situation.   
A week or so later, Arianne and George were sitting in Potions class, listening to Snape drone on about some stupid potion. Suddenly, an idea popped into Arianne's head. She looked to George, and, as if he could read her mind, he smiled broadly and nodded. Arianne pointed her finger at Snape, and his robes were transformed into a pink sleeper with bunny slippers. To top off the ensemble, Arianne turned his hair a brilliant shade of pink. A roar of laughter rippled through the classroom. Snape looked at Arianne, his expression livid. "DETENTION, O'RILEY!!!!!!" he screamed, grabbing Ari by the shoulders and marching her out of the room. As she left, Arianne winked at Fred and George. George whispered to Fred through his laughter, "The Weasley, Weasley, and O'Riley Mischief-Makers League strikes again!" Fred responded, "Watch out, Padfoot, Moony, Wormtail, and Prongs! We're right behind ya!"  
  
~Okay, this was my first Harry Potter fanfic, and I know it wasn't really good, but PLLLEAASSEE review!! I looovveee constructive criticism, so if you have any gripes about my story, please post them (of course, praise is always welcome as well!!!!!!)~ 


	2. The Elements

"Hey, you guys, we oughta be getting to the library soon," Arianne said through a spoonful of scrambled eggs.   
"The LIBRARY?" Fred Weasley dropped his fork and made choking noises, pretending to faint.  
"Why would we wanna go there?" George Weasley asked incredulously, looking at Arianne with a sidewise glance.  
"Because," the golden-haired girl began in her thick Irish brogue, "we have that research project to do for McGonagall, and I'm in enough trouble with her already." Arianne cringed, thinking of the stunning lecture that she'd been given for turning a Slytherin girl into a pig.  
Lee Jordan laughed. "Only you, Arianne, only you," he said, grinning.   
The Weasley twins sighed. "Okay, okay, we'll go to the library."  
  
Later that day, Arianne, Fred, George, and Lee trudged to the library, preparing for a looonnngg day of research. On the way to the Transfiguration section, Lee stopped and went over to a shelf of books. "Hey, check this out," he shouted, "old yearbooks!"  
"Oooh," Arianne said, running over to the shelf. "Let's take a look at some of these."   
Fred took a book off of the shelf. "This one's from about thirty years ago," he said. George took it from him and opened it up to the page where the Head Girl and Boy pictures were. The Head Girl was a drop-dead gorgeous Gryffindor girl with long black hair. "Wow, she's hot!" said George, whistling.  
Arianne grabbed the book from him and read the name under the girl's picture. "I'll have to tell her you said that, George," she began, turning the page towards George so he could read it. "Oh my God, its McGonagall!" screamed George. Arianne, Lee, and Fred fell over laughing, while George pretended to throw up.  
They looked through a couple more yearbooks, finding Snape's picture (what a laugh that was!), Hagrid's, even (gulp) Tom Riddle's. Finally, they came to the yearbook with the Weasley's parents in it.  
"Look George, Mom..she's.."   
"Thin!" finished George, laughing. They flipped through a few more pages, until they got to the "O" section. Arianne found the picture of her dad, Colin O'Riley, a chestnut-haired cheerful looking boy.   
They turned to the front of the book, where the Head Girl and Boy were. Arianne put her hand on the page. "Stop," she said. She smiled slightly at the picture of the Head Girl, for it was a picture of her mother, Bridget MacClaren.   
"Wow...she really looks like you, Ari," whispered Fred. Arianne didn't say anything. Finally, she snapped out of her reverie and put the book back on the shelf. "Let's get to work," she said, running to the Transfiguration section.  
After finishing her research, Arianne wandered into the History of Magic section. One particular book caught her eye: Theories and Prophecies on the Downfall of the Dark Arts. She opened the book, coming to a page with the title: The Theory of the Elements. She read:  
  
Quite possibly the most famous of the Dark Arts prophecies is that of the elements. It is said that when four wizards who possess the inner powers of earth, air, fire, and water combine, they shall cause the destruction of the Dark Arts. It is said that the first generation of Earth, Air, Fire, and Water was already partially destroyed by the Dark Lord. It was said to consist of:  
  
Earth: James Potter  
Air: Albus Dumbledore  
Fire: Bridget MacClaren  
Water: Unknown  
  
The prophecy states that the second generation of the elements shall come and destroy the Dark Lord, but only if they join forces will he be fully vanquished.  
  
Arianne shut the book, her eyes wide. Earth, Air, Fire, Water...her mother was part of that ancient prophetic circle....what if she was part of the second generation?   
Before she could fully collect her thoughts, Fred, George, and Lee came over to her. "Hey Ari, you all right?" asked George, concern in his eyes.   
"Yeah..yeah I'm fine," said Arianne. "C'mon, let's get outta here."  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"Aarrrghhh, midterms," Arianne groaned, heading up the stairs to Professor Trelawney's tower with Fred. "They're perfectly awful, especially Trelawney's."  
Fred nodded. "You got that right...she must be calling us in one-by-one."  
After what felt like an eternity, Professor Trelawney's silvery voice called, "O'Riley, Arianne!"  
"Good luck!" called Fred as Arianne walked up the stairs. Professor Trelawney beckoned Arianne over to her.   
"Please sit down, Miss O'Riley," she said, gesturing to an armchair. Arianne flopped down onto it, frowning. Professor Trelawney smiled brightly, and held her palm out. "All right, Miss O'Riley, what can you read from my palm?"  
Arianne had no sooner opened her mouth to speak, when Professor Trelawney's hand became limp, and her eyes bore the expression of one in a deep, deep trance. In a strange, deep voice, she said:  
  
Daughter of fire, your time is soon upon you,  
Earth, air, fire and water will soon combine,  
The Dark Lord is strong, but you are stronger,  
The elements shall rise and overthrow all evil,  
If they can survive the challenges ahead....  
Take caution, child, take caution.....  
  
Arianne's eyes were bulging out of her sockets when Professor Trelawney came out of her trance. "Now, now, where was I? I must have dropped off for a moment, do forgive me."  
"But..what you said..the elements..earth, air, fire, water..the Dark Lord.."   
"Are you feeling all right, my girl?"  
"Yes, yes I'm fine.." Arianne's head was swimming. Daughter of fire...she must be part of the circle! A cold rush of fear swept through her. What if she never found the other three? What would she do?  
She could recall no more of the Divination exam, and before she knew it, she was on her way out of Professor Trelawney's room. Fred grinned at her. "So, how'd it go?"  
"I probably blew it," Ari laughed, trying to sound normal.   
After Fred finished his exam, the two of them headed down the hall, back to Gryffindor tower. As she walked, Arianne pulled something out of her pocket. It was her favorite wizard card, the one of her mother. Smiling at the picture of Bridget, Arianne whispered, "I won't let you down, Mother, I promise." 


End file.
